Flooding stirs home insurance sales

Sales of home insurance policies have rocketed in the aftermath of the extreme flooding seen in many areas of the country, it has been revealed.

Applications for home insurance have risen by 300 per cent since the flooding, which hit areas such as Sheffield, Hull and Doncaster, according to data from moneysupermarket.com.

These areas, along with others such as the West Midlands and some parts of Scotland, saw more consumers applying for home insurance, with many doing so for the first time, the company claimed.

Richard Mason, director of insurance at moneysupermarket.com, expressed his lack of surprise at the surge in home insurance applications for those areas affected by flooding.

Clearly, homeowners who narrowly escaped the floods this time have realised that without any insurance cover they could be left footing bills for tens of thousands of pounds in the future, he remarked.

In the wake of the floods, the Association of British Insurers called upon the UK government to take more action to prevent flooding and not build large numbers of new homes in the floodplain. Most home insurance companies are members of the organisation.